Chapter Text
A Very Bourbon Christmas
Demi's heeled boots crunched through the light covering of snow and ice on the sidewalk. Another day trying to keep the bar in one piece, and what did she have to show for it? Nothing, really. Demi was smart-she knew chemistry, how to take care of the bar's accounting, and how to talk to customers. She was wonderful at her job, wonderful at working, wonderful at working for hours without a break... but that was just the problem, wasn't it? She could account, problem-solve, and work herself to the bone as much as she wanted. None of it would fix the real underlying issue.
Sam was gone.
That was how it had been for... god- two or three years now? Demi wasn't sure. At the beginning she had kept up with her calendar, but all to often she would get home, collapse onto her couch, and fall asleep without remembering to change the day. It had been too long now, and if she tried to start again she'd need a new calendar, so Demi let it be. No use spending money on a calendar if you don't got the money for it and can't even keep up with the damned thing. A few bottles of hard cider clanked together in her hand as she looked up from the sidewalk to see carolers. Demi used to sing. When was the last time she had sung? She loved singing- it can't have been too long ago, right? Demi stood for a moment, staring at the carolers. A month? No... more than that. She backtracked. She had sung the day Sam left... was that really it? Was that the last time? Two-three years ago?
She shook her head, pressing on through the cold to get to her poor little excuse of a house. A demand was pinned up on the door, ordering that the payment be made on time this month. Not to worry, Demi would pay it tomorrow. Tomorrow? That was Christmas, wasn't it? Demi shrugged to herself as she walked in. She had got herself a Christmas tree... which was laying on the floor without any decorations. Why bother?
Demi shrugged off her coat, tossing it on the floor. She had taken her coat hanger and moved it to the bar after the old one broke. She didn't need one anyway. She took off her boots, then the three socks she'd been wearing. After all, those heels weren't winter boots. Demi opened her drink and took a sip. It was strong and she figured it was enough to help her sleep for a few hours. She had closed the bar for tomorrow, thank god.
She didn't bother thinking of the time, didn't bother worrying about what was due and what wasn't. So she curled up in a little ball on her couch and shut her eyes, still coated in both today's mascara and yesterday's. She mostly used it to cover up the ugly white part of her lashes.
Knock knock knock
Demi groaned, trying to rub the sleep out of her eyes before she accidentally rolled onto the part of the couch with a broken support and thudded to the floor. "Jus' a minute... rent's not due till new years." She grumbled as she sat up on her dirty carpet.
Knock Knock Knock
"Aye can't you wait a minute you brute!?" Demi called again, holding her head against the noise. The noise stopped, and she clamored to her feet with a great deal of annoyance. Yanking the doorknob open, she found a stranger bundled up against the cold with his face covered under an excessive amount of scarves.
"Got a noise complaint for ya, miss. Could hear your snoring from Dublin!" The main complained as he shoved his way unceremoniously into Demi's house. She stumbled back and stared, mouth agape at the man's rude nature. "Might wanna close your mouth, gonna let in the spiders if you haven't already with your open-mouthed snoring."
"Why I never! Listen here, ass! I've been working since dawn, with loan sharks biting me up the ass and rude patrons snapping in my face for god knows how long! If I hear another word about the snoring of an exhausted working woman I'll find your wife and-!" Demi argued, only for the bizzarre character before her to laugh and throw his arms around her.
The man picked her up, despite her protesting yells, and spun her around before setting her down and declaring with a chuckle, "There's our Demi! Back from the dead! All it took was riling you up a bit, like always!" before pulling down his bundle of scarfs to reveal none other than Sam.
Standing there stunned, Demi stared. "Sam-... Sammy?" She couldn't believe what she was seeing. Sam. Standing here. In her kitchen. His glasses were newer than he had left with, but still cracked in the corner as they often were. "I-... my god... Oh my god!" Her pale hands shook as they came up to cover her face, and the dam broke loose. Her shoulders shook as she sobbed, the sounds muffled by her palms.
"What're we crying for? Aren't you happy?" Sam replied with a casual playfulness that Demi could have punched him for if she'd wanted to. "Aw c'mon, stop this silliness. It's me! I'm here!" He grinned, opening his arms and watching as she shuffled into his arms as she had when she was little. "Always such a crier, Demi. Downpour Demi." He cooed, petting the bit of hair not covered by her bandana.
Demi buried her face in her brother's shirt, noting how he didn't smell like the same slightly smelly teenager she'd known. There was cologne on him, something he couldn't have afforded. His coat and scarf were also of nice quality... what was happening? Had he been living the high life while she slummed it at a dying bar, barely able to make ends meet? No, that wasn't her Sammy. He must have had a reason. "Is that cologne, Sam?" She asked carefully.
Sam seemed excited she'd noticed. "Yep! A buddy of mine let me spend an early Christmas with him and he bought me all sorts of stuff! Oh boy, Dem do I have a bunch of surprises for you! But you've gotta wait till Christmas. Where's your tree?" He asked brightly, then looked over at the tree in the corner. "Oh now this just won't do! Do you have ornaments? Let's decorate so I have somewhere to put all these goodies."
Ornament after ornament, decoration after decoration. Soon enough the tree was looking absolutely lovely, and so was the future up ahead. Sam hummed a Christmas carol under his breath, taking Demi's hand and carefully spinning her just as he'd done all those years ago. Demi picked up on the tune and sang merrily along, just as things were supposed to be.
After a while, Demi and her big brother sat on the floor, admiring their work. But Demi still had so many questions she needed the answers to. "Sammy?"
"Yeah munchkin?"
"Where were you? Why'd you go?" Demi asked, glancing over at him before gazing back up at the tree. It looked so much prettier this year, but maybe that was just because she had company to enjoy it with.
Sam casted his gaze off to the side for a bit. "I was offered a job at a manor, working under a man named 'Orpheus'. He's my pal now, and a great writer. I know that's not reason enough, and we had it good here. But I wanted more." A bit of red covered Sam's cheeks. He felt guilty. After all, before he had left the bar had been running smoothly, and customers were flowing in like a waterfall of cash.
Demi surprised him when she didn't respond with anger, just curling herself up against his side like she did when she was little enough to be pushed down the stairs in a laundry basket. "What made you think that was a better option? Was it just something new?" She asked simply.
"I don't know, really. But either way, it's turned out great! I have way more cash than before! Enough to fix up the bar! Enough to give you all that you deserve!" He explained, setting presents under the tree that he had bought recently. "Why don't you go ahead and open one tonight? I can't wait till tomorrow." Sam patted her head once more, the bandana slipping back a bit and showing the stripe of white hair that she hid so carefully.
Usually she'd fix it, hide away that bright shock of white that her mom had hated so much. But that night she didn't allow her mother's thoughts to dictate her feelings, that night she was just a normal girl about to open a Christmas present early with her brother. "This one?" She asked, holding up a big one with a shiny bow. Once Sam nodded, she carefully opened it, setting the paper aside in case she wanted it- that stuff wasn't cheap. She opened the box to find a pretty red party dress, one that she usually would've had to save for a year to get. "Oh my god Sam! You said your friend pays you enough for all this?? Are you shagging him or something?" She asked, utterly shocked.
Sam cackled for a bit, but didn't give her an outright answer. "Want to try it on? I can help with the ties once you've got it on." He offered gladly, watching as she raced off to get dressed with a squeal. Once she returned, he readily laced it up for her, watching as his sister jumped around the house like a giddy child. She was 20 now, wasn't she? Sam couldn't help but feel glad that she was still a child with him. It made it feel as though he had never gone away.
Shortly thereafter, the two Bourbons settled down a bit, reminiscing on the old times for a whole before Demi went to sleep in her own room for the first time in weeks and Sam took the couch, making a mental note to see about buying a new one when he noticed the dip from the broken support.